Holding fixture



Jan. 19, 1960 D. w. UNDERHILL 2,921,785

HOLDING FIXTURE Filed July 1, 1957 INVENTOR! DENTON W. UNDERHILL United States Patent HOLDING FIXTURE Denton W. Underhill, Glendale, Calif.

Application July 1, 1957, Serial No. 668,962 3 Claims. (Cl. 269- 140) such: fixtures for holding plugs and other objects which I areto be wired. Considerable difficulty has been encounteredin the. electronicindustry inobtaining suitable fixturesto hold such plugs and similardevices to bewired because. of the-wide variation .inthesizes and shapes thereof. Therefore, attempts. to. provide .specialv fixtures adapted: for use with particular plugshave .failed because it isimpossibleto provide. a specific fixture for each. size and, shape of plug or other objects beingwired.

' Onthe other hand-conventional boards or otherdevices having. a universal opening for receivingyarioussizes of: plugs. have. not been satisfactory:becausethe plugs or other elements have not been securely held and. thus the operator hassbeen compelled to hold the .plug, onother object being wired with one handwhile utilizing the other hand-in accomplishing .the wiring thereof.

It is, therefore, an. object of my invention to provide a holdingfixt-ure whichis intended to be-utilized'in'holding anelectrical plug or any-element .of .a similar sizerand shape during the wiring-or assembly process, said fixture includinga base. which-facilitatesits being-mounted on an appropriate surface and incorporatingabody or head which-is pivotally mounted upon the. supporting base in orderthat: the body or head may be tilted-tothe desired ang-le.-

Another object of my invention is the provisionof a holding 1 fixture of the aforementioned character wherein there; is provided a plurality of movable jaws andmeans for actuating the sameesimultaneously to cause said jaws to, be. moved toward or away from each other,; the body orvhead of the fixture Lmountingsaid movable. jaws and also, incorporatinga plurality'of spaced; sockets for the reception :of 'a supportingpin-which:is mountable' alternatively in a selected one of the socketsi-to permit the holdinglfixture to. be utilized in-supportin'g plugs of different: sizeswithout necessitating ;excessive.adjustment of thezrrnovable jaws of; the holding fixture to accommodate thetdifierentisizes of:plugs or'-other objectsto be supported in .:the-: holding; fixture;-

Ant:additional-1v object of. my" invention isthe-provision apparent from the =following specification and the accompanying dra'wing-which'is for the purpose of illustration'only and iirwhichz 1 Fig. 1 is aper'spective view of a holding fixture'constructed' in accordancewith theteachings-ofrhy invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of said holding fixture;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the top of the fixture body partially broken away to illustrate a portion of the actuating mechanism; 7

Fig. 4 is a vertical, sectional view taken on the broken line 4-4 of Fig. 2; V

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view taken on the broken line 55 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of the holding fixture of my invention.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, I show a holding fixture 10 constructed'in accordance with the teachings of my invention, said holding fixture'including a support 12 constituted by spaced brackets 14 whose lower extremities are secured by means of screws 16, or similar fasteners, to a supporting surface 18.

Mounted upon the support 12 is a head or body 20 constituted by opposedcup-shaped portions 22 and 24 formed from sheet metal, or the like, and having their edges disposed in abutting relationship at 26, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawing. The cup-shaped portions 22 and 24 of the body Ztlthus serve to define a chamber 28 in the interior of said body and are maintained in operative relationship with each other by bolts 30 extending through coincident openings therein and secured in operative relationship therewith by means of nuts 32.

A pairof mounting tabs 34"is secured to the underside of the lowercup-shaped portion 24 of the body 20 and the lower extremities thereof are interposed in the space between the pair of brackets 14in the manner graphically illustrated in-Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawing.

Coincident openings 38 are formed in thebrackets 14 and the'mounting' tabs 34 to-permit the passage of a bolt 40 therethrough whose extremity is engaged by a wing nut 42 which, when tightened, serves to urge the brackets 14 into closer contiguity to the adjacent sides of the mounting tabs 34to locate the head or body 20in a desired angular orientation as illustrated in Fig. l of the drawing. Therefore, should an operator desire to change the orientation of the body 20 with respect to the support 12, it is merely necessary to release the wing nut 42, thus permitting the mounting tabs 34- to rotate in the space between the brackets .14 and the body 20 to be moved into anew position.

The top or upper cup shaped portion 22 ofthe body 20 is provided with arc'uately shaped, radially extending openings and 46 therein and smaller circular openings 48 and Share also'form'e'd in the upper'cup-shaped'portion 22 and havetheir' centers aligned on a common radius. It will be noted that the circular opening 48 is located substantially closer to' the center of the body 20 than isthe circular opening'Stl which is located quite close to the peripheral edge of the body'20, for a purpose which will be described ingreater detail below.

Mounted below the circular openings 48 and 50, respectively, are nuts58 'and'60 which are secured to the inner wall of the upper cup-shaped portion-22 of the bod'y'20 bymeans' of spot welding, or the like, and whichhave threaded bores 62, as best sho wn in Fig.4 ofthe drawing, forthe reception ofa supporting pin 66 having a threaded shank 6S receivable in either of the bores'62 of the nuts 58 or 60. Thebore's 62 of'the nuts 58 and 60 thus constitute sockets for the reception of the shank 68 of the pin 66 and the pin '66 can thus be located in the bore 62 of the nut 58underlying the inner circular opening 48 or in the bore 62 of the nut 60-underlying the opening 50 located adjacent the periphery of the body 20, for 'a' purpose which will'be described in greater detail below.

'Thepin 66 isprovided with a sleeve '70 of rubber or positely threaded on opposite sides of its center, for instance, asbest shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, being provided with a right-hand thread at 74 and a left-hand thread at 76 and incorporating a locating collar 78 which, as best shown in Figs. 3-4 of the drawing, extends through a locating slot-80 formed in the bottom wall of the lower cup-shaped portion 24 of the body 20. There- '-fore, the collar 78 serves to prevent longitudinal or axial movement of thescrcw 72 and to maintain it in predetermined relationship with the body 20 within the'chamber 28 by its'engagement in the slot 80.. It will be noted that the collar 78 is concealed in the space between the mounting or supporting brackets14. However, the collar 78 is of smaller diameter than the length of the slot 80 -so that the screw 72 can move bodily in a direction perpendicular to its with respect to the slot 80, in a manner to be described in greater detail below. i

The right-hand extermity of the screw 72 extends through an elongated slot 82 formed in the side of the lower cup-shaped portion 24 of the body 20 and is provided with a knob 84 thereupon to permit the screw 72 to be rotated in an appropriate direction.

'Mounted in operative relationship with the left-hand threaded portion 76 of the screw 72 is a traveling nut 86 and a similar traveling nut 88 is operatively engaged upon the right-hand threaded portion 74 of the screw 72. Mounted upon the shanks of the bolts 30 are arms 90, said arms, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawing, being maintained in predetermined position on the shanks of the bolts 30 by means of nuts 92. Each of the arms 90 is connected to its associated nut 86 or 88 by means of a pivot pin 94 and supports upon its outer extremity a movable jaw member 96 constituted by a pin 98 having its lower extremity threadedly engaged in its associated arm 90 and having a rubber sleeve 102 thereupon 'to facilitate its gripping upon an object such as the plug 104 shown in phantom in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

In utilizing the holding fixture to support a relatively large plug, such as the plug 104, for wiring or other assembly operation, the supporting pin 66 is located in the nut 60 constituting the socket immediately contiguous to the outer edge of the body 20, thus permitting the plug 104 to be accommodated in the space between the movable jaw members 96 and the fixed supporting pin 66. On the other hand, if it is desired to support a relatively small plug such as that shown at 106 in Fig. 3 of the -;drawing, the pin 66 is removed from the outer socket constituted by the nut 60 and installed in the inner socket constituted by the nut 58, thus permitting the smaller plug 106 to be adequately supported between the jaw members 96 and the nonmovable supporting pin 66.

When the knob 84 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the traveling nuts 86 and 88 are carried outwardly on the screw 72, thus urging the arms 90 away from each other and carrying the movable jaws 96 outwardly toward the edge of the body '20. Conversely, when the knob '84 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. l of the drawing, ,the movable jaws 96 are moved toward each other to accommodate a smaller object such as the plug 106.

During movement of the nuts 86 and 88 on the screw 72, the screw is displaced upwardly or downwardly with respect to the body 20 because of the engagement of the collar 78 in the slot 80. p 5

Of importance in achieving economy in the construction of the holding fixture '10 of my invention is the provision of the locating collar 78 on the screw 72 and its engagement in the slot 80 in the lower cup-shaped portion 24 of the body 20 whereby the screw is maintained in positive engagement with the body 20 and noadditional or supplementary locating or guide means nced'be provided therefor. Also of importance 'is the fact that the arms 90 are pivotally supported upon the bolts 30 utilized to assemble the cup-shaped portions 22 and 24 of the body 20 in operative relationship with each other, thus eliminating parts which would otherwise be necessary to mount the arms 90.

In this manner, an extremely effective holding fixture for small articles to be assembled which can be manufactured at relatively low cost is achieved.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an object holding device, the combination of: a support adapted to be secured to an appropriate supporting surface; a housing on said support, said housing defining a chamber and having an upper wall incorporating arcuate elongated openings therein, said upper wall having spaced sockets mounted thereupon and disposed on a common diameter extending between the inner extremities of said arcuate elongated openings, said housing having a bottom wall incorporating an elongated slot located approximately centrally thereof and said housing having a side wall incorporating an elongated slot aligned with said bottom wall slot; a transversely oriented lead screw having a collar intermediate its extremities engageable with said bottom wall slot and one of its extremities projecting through said side wall slot; a pair of arms pivotally connected to said housing on one side of said lead screw and pivotally connected to said lead screw intermediate the extremities thereof, said arms having portions underlying said arcuate openings; pins mounted in said portions of said arms and movable therewith; and a supporting pin locatable in either of said sockets for co-operating with said pins on said arms in maintaining said object in operative relationship with said housing.

2. In an object holding device, the combination of: a

support adapted to be secured to an appropriate supporting surface; a housing on said support, said housing defining a chamber and having an upper wall incorporating arcuate elongated openings therein, said upper wall having spaced sockets mounted thereupon and disposed on a common diameter extending between the inner extremities of said arcuate elongated openings, said housing having a bottom wall incorporating an elongated s'lot located approximately centrally thereof and said housing having a side wall incorporating an elongated slot aligned with said bottom'wall slot; a transversely oriented lead screw having 'a collar intermediate its extremities engageable with said bottom wall slot and one of its extremities V projecting through said side wall slot; a pair of arms pivotally connected to said housing on one side of said lead screw and pivotally connected to said lead screw inter- I mediate the extremities thereof, said arms having portions underlying said arcuate openings; pins mounted in said portions of said arms and movable therewith; a supporting pin locatable in either of said sockets for co-operating with said'pins on said arms in maintaining said object in operative relationship with said housing; and a pivotal connection between said support and said housing whereby said housing may be angularly oriented with respect to said support.

3. In an object holding device, the combination of:

a support adapted to be secured to an appropriate supaligned with said bottom wall slot; a transversely oriented lead screw having a collar intermediate, its extremities ,engageable with said bottom wall slot and one of its extremities projecting-through said side wall slot; a pair of arms pivotally connected to said housing on one side 5. of said lead screw and pivotally connected to said lead screw intermediate the extremities thereof, said arms having portions underlying said arcuate openings; pins mounted in said portions of said arms and movable the supporting pin in either of said sockets and said lead screw being bodily movable with respect to said slots on its pivotal connection to said arms during movement of said arms.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Dickson Apr. 20, 1886 Frain July 24, 1906 Haywood Dec. 6, 1932 Schafer Nov. 7, 1933 Jacobs Dec. 17, 1940 Nesbit Apr. 13, 1943 Clark Mar. 15, 1949 Hamon et al. May 8, 1951 Chapman Nov. 9, 1954 

